46-year-old actress Selma Blair, best known for her roles in Legally Blonde , Hellboy , The Sweetest Thing , and Cruel Intentions , was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, after experiencing symptoms for years.
For the first time, she’s sitting down with “Good Morning America” to open up about what the entire experience has been like.
Opening up to the public about such an emotional, and physical struggle can be a difficult thing, but Selma is on a mission to share what she’s going through in the hopes of helping others who are going through something similar.
RELATED STORIES
MS is an incurable, chronic disease that attacks healthy tissue in the central nervous system.
Normally, people with MS are diagnosed between the ages of 20 and 50.
Common symptoms include poor coordination, impaired vision, memory loss, fatigue, and more.
The trigger of this illness has yet to be discovered.
When Selma first visited a doctor, she complained that she was feeling constant exhaustion — a symptom of MS.
But the doctor dismissed her, and credited her exhaustion to the fact that she is a single mother to a seven-year-old boy.
Selma began to self-medicate to control her pain.
But when that stopped working, she dedicated herself to sobriety.
She celebrated two years of being sober in June of 2018.
“I was ashamed, and I was doing the best I could,” she said. “I was really struggling with, how am I going to get by in life?”
After finally being diagnosed, she was overcome with emotion.
“I cried. I had tears. They weren’t tears of panic — they were tears of knowing I now had to give in to a body that had loss of control,” she said.
“There was some relief in that, ’cause ever since my son was born, I was in an MS flare-up and didn’t know. I was giving it everything to seem normal.”
“I have probably had this incurable disease for 15 years at least. And I am relieved to at least know.”
“I am disabled. I fall sometimes. I drop things. My memory is foggy. And my left side is asking for directions from a broken GPS. But we are doing it. And I laugh and I don’t know exactly what I will do precisely but I will do my best.” she captioned an Instagram post .
She shared the news of her diagnosis with her son, and explained it as “not at all” difficult.
“I always want him to feel safe, never responsible for me,” she said.
Her son’s immediate reaction was concern for weather or not she was going to die because of the disease.
“No, we never know what kills us, Arthur, but this is not the doctor telling me I’m dying,” she told him.
Before actually being diagnosed, Selma said that she reached out to Michael J. Fox.
Michael has been an advocate for finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease since he was diagnosed in 1991.
Parkinson’s disease and MS are similar, as they both attack the central nervous system, and affect motor functions.
“He really helped me. Plus, I was like, I have Michael J. Fox’s email now. I’m pretty cool,” she said playfully.
Selma was left feeling hopeful after her doctor told her that within one year she could have 90% of her abilities back.
In the meantime, she is continuing to raise awareness by sharing her story.
She walked the red carpet holding a cane last Sunday, before the Oscars.
“I was a little scared of talking.”
She said, “Even my neurologist said this will bring a lot of awareness because no one has the energy to talk when they’re in a flare-up, but I do, because I love a camera!”
“I am in the thick of it but I hope to give some hope to others. And even to myself. You can’t get help unless you ask,”
“I want my life to be full somehow. I want to play with my son again. I want to walk down the street and ride my horse. I have MS and I am OK.”
Thankfully, she has the help and support of her longtime friends, Jaime King, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Being a single mom, and battling everyday against MS would be a very difficult thing for someone to do on their own.
Currently, Selma is apart of a sci-fi Netflix series called “Another Life.”
She seems to be very dedicated to her work , and is trying not to let her illness get in the way of things she loves to do.
After being cast for a leading role on the upcoming show, she took to Instagram to share her gratitude for the opportunity.
“By the grace of the lord, and will power and the understanding producers at Netflix, I have a job.” she wrote .
Selma will be playing the recurring role of Harper Glass.
The 10 episode series is about astronaut, Niko Breckinridge, leading a crew on a mission to search for alien life.
She also thanked one of the executive producers in an Instagram post.
“[Noreen Halpern] who assured me that everyone has something” as well as #chrisregina [and creator/showrunner/executive producer] #aaronmartin and every crew member… thank you.”
Selma isn’t the only celeb who suffers from MS.
Sadly, the disease can target just about anyone, and unfortunately a few other celebs have shared the same struggle as Selma.
Actress, Jamie-Lynn Sigler.
Jamie-Lynn is best known for playing Tony Soprano’s daughter in the HBO drama, The Sopranos .
But she revealed to People that she has been struggling with MS for the last 15 years, after being diagnosed when she was just 20 years old .
Jack Osbourne.
Jack gained his fame for being Ozzy Osbourne’s son, and for starring in their family’s hit TV reality show.
Shortly after becoming a father in 2012, he was diagnosed with MS.
“I’d just had a baby, work was going great … I kept thinking, ‘Why now?'” he said .
By being so open about her battle with MS, she is educating so many people that may have not quite understood the disease otherwise.
Because she is a celebrity, and has the platform to reach more people — she is making the most of it, and showing the world that no one is invincible.
It can happen to anybody .
She’s a true hero for putting on a brave face, raising awareness, and making the most of the cards she was dealt.
We’re all hopeful for her that within a year she begins to feel a lot better!
Although Selma is battling MS, and probably doesn’t feel her best, she looks amazing.
Which is hardly a consolation. But it’s definitely great to see that she’s trying not to let her illness bring her down.
Here’s the whole interview with Good Morning America :
